KEY POINTS

He aims to bring ‘a sense of stability and normality’ to the business, which includes The Star casino in Sydney.

He also plans to rebuild relationships with James Packer and Barry O’Farrell.

Echo Entertainment Group’s new chairman, John O’Neill, has signalled he will adopt a less combative approach than his predecessor in the casino company’s dealings with the NSW state government and key shareholder James Packer.

Mr O’Neill, who replaced the ousted John Story on Friday morning, told The Australian Financial Review yesterday that he wanted management behind four casinos, including The Star in Sydney and Jupiters on the Gold Coast, to “return to being totally focused on the running of the business”.

“My objective is to bring a sense of stability and a sense of normality to our business and to build bridges wherever they need to be built,” he said.

Mr O’Neill, the chief executive of the Australian Rugby Union, said he spoke with Mr Packer on Friday in a “good and constructive conversation”. He said he looked forward to meeting the Crown executive chairman “face to face” soon but would not disclose details of what was ­discussed.

Mr Packer said he “had a good conversation with John” but would not comment any further. Crown owns 10 per cent of Echo and wants to build a luxury hotel and casino in Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct.

Echo holds the sole casino licence in NSW. That licence is up for renewal in 2017, meaning Crown could bid against Echo or try to work in partnership with its rival.

Mr O’Neill, who was appointed acting chairman at Echo, spoke to the Financial Review before it emerged yesterday evening that Echo was preparing to launch a capital raising to bolster is balance sheet.

Mr Story stood down after he lost the confidence of his fellow directors and chief executive Larry Mullin over his handling of the political fallout following a sexual harassment scandal at The Star involving former managing director, Sid Vaikunta.

Relations soured between the NSW government and The Star after the casino leaked damaging emails between one of the sexual harassment complainants and her partner, Peter Grimshaw, who was Mr O’Farrell’s communications director.

Mr Grimshaw resigned after giving explosive evidence at the inquiry.

The NSW Premier has described Mr Packer’s plans for a $1 billion hotel and casino complex as “exciting” and “the sort of tourism-related investment we want in Sydney”.

A highly aggressive push by Crown to unseat Mr Story and install former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett as a director also destabilised the company and distracted management, which announced an earnings downgrade just days into Mr Packer’s campaign.

Mr O’Neill is regarded by fellow board members as more pragmatic than his predecessor and better able to rebuild the company’s relationships with key stakeholders. Mr O’Neill stressed he would work for the benefit of “all shareholders”.

He will appear at a sports lunch at Crown in Melbourne today with interim rugby league chief Shane Mattiske, AFL boss Andrew Demetriou, Cricket Australia’s James Sutherland and FFA boss Ben Buckley.

The future of Echo is likely to be decided by Mr Packer and fellow billionaire K T Lim, whose Genting gaming empire owns 4.9 per cent of Echo. Mr Packer is reportedly seeking to meet Malyasia-based Mr Lim as soon as this week to discuss a potential alliance.

Crown is said to be confident that Genting is supportive of its plans for Echo with Mr Packer making no secret that he is an admirer of the Asian group’s so-called integrated resort in Singapore.